As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

Larumbelle

Ceridwen - you could always apply for village green status, that's not necessarily stopped a development near me yet, but it's delayed it by three years so far

More megabargains from Tesco this evening :j I'm particularly taken with the little gem lettuces 2 for 1p, bought 3 packs, I'm going to try braised lettuce tomorrow with the roast lamb I got for 75p last week. Also got rocket and watercress for 1p, wrap breads for 5p, those sandwich square thingies for 12p, and yet more sausages, 26p for 24. I bought 3 packs so my freezer is now overflowing! The whoopsies near me went rubbish for a while, they seem to be better again now but only on Saturday night. Just as well I'm a saddo with nothing better to do eh?!

weeze210

HI, Don't know if you'll accept me back as I nearly got the thread closed down last time I posted as it was "off topic". Just wanted everones opinion on a new development in my life. We have decided to give up everything and move to Wales, Abertridwr, Llanwddyn, Lake Vyrnwy, to be precise! We have sold our house, which was mortgage free due to me having skin cancer and critical illness cover, and bought a house in Wales today for which we will need a £50,000 mortgage, are we mad?
On the OS front it has a huge garden in which I plan to grow veggies and its conected to the communal Eco heating system which is very cheap apparently.
Weeze x

JIL

ceridwen wrote: »

...
- Got me some seeds delivered from Amazon ready for planting up now in "that special little area" - ie an area reasonably local to me. I know the peeps who first decided it was going to be a "special area". They arent the only ones - there are others. Anyways - they have had to "wind down" now and I've "taken their place" to be a "countryside guardian" for that little area. So - one of my little pleasures is to wander through it and see just how often someone has obviously realised that it isnt coincidence that not so much as one cigarette end or sweet wrapper is going to be allowed to sully it and is obviously enjoying it (judging from the "lit up/bright-eyed" look on their face). I do go off and have a giggle too when I can see they've obviously realised "it aint no coincidence" that the area is pristine and start up conversations with me. So - I've got my packets of wild flower seeds (including bee-friendly ones) at the ready to add a further "little zumsing" to the area shortly.

Part of it is just sheer "help to keep it safe from developers" - as they are a HUGE problem in my area. You name a nice little bit of "greenery" and some developer somewhere has got their little eyes on it to ruin it - so I'm hoping that because this area is obviously rated as "pretty special" by quite a lot of people I've encountered to date that developers will keep their greedy little eyes off it. Think positive ceridwen - surely they wouldnt dare touch it already..

"

ceridwen our local pound shop has big boxes of wild flower seeds lots of different sorts, to encourage, bees, birds and butterflies. My mother bought a few boxes that she scatters along the hedgerows as she walks down to our house.
A developer in our area uses google to look for land, he apparently sits in his armchair looking via the satellite/street view looking for suitable land before making further enquiries.

ceridwen

Thanks for all the suggestions re keeping that bit of land safe from predatory eyes (ie developers).

I must check Googlemaps to see if the land shows up - cant see that it would be possible for it to do so - as its out of sight of roads - so they couldnt have got the car up there.

Looks like if it ever goes under threat then its time to import a few wild animals to add to those badgers (a bit of a supporting cast). The village green status might well work - as plenty of people obviously value the land - both dogwalkers walking their dogs there and peeps who value it for its own sake and I get thoroughly amused at watching them sitting and gazing at it with a happy look on their face.

Fingers crossed no-one will ever cast avaricious eyes on it - but I always prefer to follow the motto "Be prepared" in life.

Hadnt thought of the local £ shop for big boxes of wildflower seeds - they've only recently started having odd items in that I'm interested in and its a very limited selection to date - but I'll keep my eye on it. If I could buy mega size cheapie bags then I could scatter some around more widely than just "that bit of land". At several £s a small packet I'll keep the ones I've sent off for from Amazon for just there.

I suspect we've had a few peeps in this area scattering a few helpful seeds along verges generally in the last couple of years or so:). I even found some vegetables growing recently on some communal land and realised there are a few other guerilla gardeners hereabouts:). We're not into an Incredible Edible Todmorden ethos round here yet (ie loads of fruit and vegetables growing on all communal land possible - with notices up telling people to help themselves if they need them) - but I guess I was safe in assuming that, if they are on Council ground, then they are meant for anyone and everyone. So I think that meant it was okay for me to take a vegetable from there for dinner that night? - particularly in view of the fact that I've planted up loads myself on Council ground and have had reports from several people that they gathered some for dinner (even though they didnt know I was the one that had planted it).;):)

GreyQueen

Only joking, it's lovely to catch up after 36 hrs MIA due to doing other things. I slightly worry about my addiction to MSE...but on the other side of the equation, I don't have a TV so I have some "screen time" owed to me....at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.:rotfl:

(((charlies-aunt))) oh I'm so sorry to hear about your diagnosis, had missed you posting and wondered where you'd gone. At least you know what you're dealing with, now. As others have said, it's a highly variable illness (one of my friends has it). All the very best and you know you can let off steam up here.

Many many thanks for the kind wishes from so many people on this thread towards me and my loved ones. Been a bit of a week (Nan had a fall at home and is badly-bruised and shaken) and we're getting on with it, but troubles do seem to come in threes, don't they? Cold is on its way out, vastly helped by 3 nights' decent sleep. Because of pre-existing medical conditions, I have great difficulty clearing infections, even the bog-standard common cold, but I get there in the end.

((Larumbelle)) what a turn up for the books with the beyatch boss being gone.The others are right; it was an ongoing matter behind the scenes and you were probably the final straw. I thought a couple of days ago when I read about your meeting and the employer suddenly back-pedalling: "They've taken legal advice and realised that they are on the edge of a very deep pit of merde and are frantically trying to get out of it."

I do know exactly what you mean about loving a job where you can turn the computer off at day's end and walk away from it. I'm the same with my customer services job; it's full-on and high-speed when you're doing it, and some of the things we hear on a daily basis are harrowing, but we pass the worst on to others.

In the course of the past week I've had a screaming young man call me an effing something-or-other and another feller wanting to talk to my supervisor to heap praises on my head. Plus I've managed to point some people with chronic illnesses who are really struggling financially towards some disability advocacy organisations who will, I trust, get them some much-needed help.

And I get to knock off and walk away without carrying a case-load of troubles like social-worker and teacher friends.

Ceridwen the Great Crested Newt is a great species to thwart developers with. The allotment officer tells me that we have them "somewhere" on our site. Have never seen one myself but the place is heaving with common newts, common frogs and bog-standard toads. I have "filed" the Crested Newt's presence away to be wheeled out in case of need. I've always been nervous about our allotment sites in Provincial City due to them all being in suburbia and the constant pressure of development for housing within an area of fixed boundaries. Fortunately it hasn't come to it yet but we lost some of the site (20 plots) to development about 30 years ago, as did some of the other sites in the city, so it's always at the back of my mind. Needless to say, if push-comes-to-shove, we'll fight it with NSALG's help and I'll be at the forefront of the barricades.

Well, yesterday was busy and productive as the parents came up and brought my DVD cabinet. I'm so thrilled. It's 25 x 15 inches and waist height (I'm tall) and sits very neatly in my titchy living room EDIT (and blush)and...and....I have put the contents of my 2 sewing boxes onto it's shelves and it fits with room to spare. Plus it has 2 sections which pull out and have more shelves, which make it a bit like a magic cabinet, in a down-market cheapy sort of way, and appeal to the kid in me. Later, I shall clean up the baby-change boxes which I was using for the sewing kit and take them to the c.s.

I was so chuffed because it's quite hard to find affordable second hand furniture which is very small although I see plenty of larger stuff which I'd love if I could fit it in.

We hit the allotment and I was hoping the carrots sown more than a week ago might have germinated but not yet but I was livid that the couch grass next door, which is 4 feet tall and seeding, HAS germinated, and there is a lovely looking lawn coming up in carrot area. Grrrrrr!!!!!!!!! We picked a huge quantity of broad beans for the folks to take away and it's so lovely to have produce to share. Plus the first courgettes are harvested, and a giant beetroot (one of only 3 which germinated out of a whole row, thanks to the drought).

I have sown 4 more drills of Boltardy beetroot to get a late crop of golf-ball sized ones which will be pickled. Strictly speaking it is a bit late in the season but from experience I know that I can get away with this. Just so long as you accept they'll be ready in late Sept and won't be much bigger than a golf ball/ small apple caliber.

Today's cunning plan is to have a leisurely start, potter a bit on the lottie, big pick and freeze of the broad beans and get myself organised for the coming work week. I have also borrowed "The Secret Life of Stuff" by Julie Hill which I'm cracking thru and it's very interesting. (ecology/ low impact living, resource use etc etc being longstanding interests of mine).

Kittie, I've postponed asking as it seems to be something everyone else is familiar with, and I feel dumb for not knowing, but what it a lock-and-lock box, please? Is this some refinement on plastic boxes? I had to force myself not to go into the L*keland sale yesterday......I knew if I once looked, all would be lost.

Bargain of the week so far is an 80p pajama top, with tags, from the c.s. Goodness knows where the bottom half went but it's lovely; fuzzy cotton, very thick and warm (I'm thinking ahead for winter) and it's got funny little cartoon animals on it. I wouldn't be seen dead in public with cartoon animals on my shirt but it's OK in the flat

(((Big hugs))) to everyone who's having a hard time of it (or just feels like a hug) and I hope everyone has a great Sunday.

PS kidkat, I used to think you had a dozen children, too, until the penny dropped. Doh!

ceridwen

Talking about your "loving room" GreyQueen?;):rotfl: Is there something you wish to share with us here?;):rotfl:

I can answer re the lock and lock boxes - as both Kittie and I share a distinct liking for them. Lakeland is indeed a good source of supply for them (and where I got most of mine from). They are the 21st century equivalent of those plastic "tupperware" boxes we all used to use/some of us still do. The "lock and lock" refers to the fact that they have 4 "clips" round the top - so one can not just put the lid on, but lock it on. They have a very good seal as a result of this. Its the only type of plastic food storage container I've found to date whereby one can put things with liquid in into them and turn the container upside down and know it wont leak.

Thanks for the comment about the Great Crested Newt:). Now - I wonder if they sell them on Amazon - or just how one gets hold of some......(goes off for a looksee).

EDIT: Ah....reet....googled and thinks "Duh...ceridwen...no wonder they are so rare - it seems to be impossible to get hold of any to breed from....<slap head smilie>"

[Deleted User]

Hi GQ, lock and lock boxes are are completely air and watertight and they fit together so can be stacked in all manner of ways. There are numerous sizes and I use the biggest for storing my flours in a cool place and the smallest for all sorts, like lemon peel, in the freezer. They will microwave if the lid is loose and I have been collectoing them for many years and would do so now if I were starting again. I have used cheap boxes but lock and lock are the ones that last and retain their airtightness. There are copycat boxes but definitely not up to the same standard. If I dropped a box of flour into water then I know it would be completely safe inside. So they are superb for storage in damp places or sheds in winter

http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Lock-and-Lock-Food-Containers.html

GreyQueen

ceridwen wrote: »

Talking about your "loving room" GreyQueen?;):rotfl: Is there something you wish to share with us here?;):rotfl:

I can answer re the lock and lock boxes - as both Kittie and I share a distinct liking for them. Lakeland is indeed a good source of supply for them (and where I got most of mine from). They are the 21st century equivalent of those plastic "tupperware" boxes we all used to use/some of us still do. The "lock and lock" refers to the fact that they have 4 "clips" round the top - so one can not just put the lid on, but lock it on. They have a very good seal as a result of this. Its the only type of plastic food storage container I've found to date whereby one can put things with liquid in into them and turn the container upside down and know it wont leak.

Thanks for the comment about the Great Crested Newt:). Now - I wonder if they sell them on Amazon - or just how one gets hold of some......(goes off for a looksee).

EDIT: Ah....reet....googled and thinks "Duh...ceridwen...no wonder they are so rare - it seems to be impossible to get hold of any to breed from....<slap head smilie>"

I edited it. Be gentle, I haven't reached caffeine-critical or had enough time to metabolise my medication and the letters i and o are side by side on the keyboard. Anyway, I'm not telling you what goes on in this living room, there might be someone up here who knows me in the RW..........:rotfl:;)

Thanks you for the info re lock-and-locks and thanks to kittie, too. I realised that I have a rubbish version of this from the poundstore (never again will I buy plastic pretenders to the throne).

Yup, G.C. Newts have been known to interfere with major roadbuilding programmes, so they are good to have around the place. Some countries have tigers and other charismatic mega-fauna but we have newts. Cannot hear that word without thinking of Ken Livingstone, and grinning, for some reason.

Orchids are also very protected. Could this sweet spot you a guarding possibly merit being designated an SSSI? Good on ya for what you do, too. I get very funny looks when I stop my pushbike to retrieve alu cans dropped along the cycle path for the recycling bins...we are a truly barbarous culture to waste such things. Bauxite deposits are being hunted under the Amazon rainforests....I may be eccentric in what I do but I'm not mad.

Nurse, more tea, she's talking drivel again!

HariboJunkie

ceridwen wrote: »

Looks like if it ever goes under threat then its time to import a few wild animals to add to those badgers (a bit of a supporting cast).

While it is commendable to volunteer to look after an wild area please don't "import" any wild animals to it. Animals which are protected by the European protected species status can only be handled or surveyed by those holding a valid licence and you run the risk of prosecution, not to mention damaging the fragile ecosystem of the area. Wild flowers by all means but animals no.

Charlie's Aunt I am sorry to hear about the MS. Wishing you lots of luck in dealing with it. The MS society forums are a great place to chat. xxx

WMF, thank you but no payments so far so will begin my round of debt collecting tommorrow. xxx

Laurambelle. Happy to hear your working conitions are so much better. xxx

GQ. Sorry to hear about your Mum an Nan. xxx

JackieG. Love to you and yours pet. xxx

Weeze. Welcome back and good luck with your new life. xxx

Have spent two days in the garden praying for everything to catch up with the rest of the country. have picked gooseberries, raspberries and blackberries so will be jam and jelly making today.

mardatha

Looks like another day of rain here today, my garden looks like a train wreck
On my American forums earlier and looking at all the stuff that's going on - the work these ladies do would kill us I think. Building chicken houses and repairing barns in 100F in Texas; having to dig corrugated iron 3ft into the ground round the pen to stop "critters" ; plus the famous "canning" -
I canned 32 pints of chicken and 6 jars of strawberry/rhubarb jelly. I have a large presser canner and I can do 17 pints at one time. It sure saves time.
And another one -
I canned 40 quarts of chicken. There was a sale on chicken quarters, $0.39 cents a pound.
Makes us lot look like amateurs !